Please tell it. I had a ghost story at Fort Delaware once.
Well alright, though its not mine to tell. I've just heard it around the camp fire a few times.
It happened years ago, on the anniversary of the battle. The way I've heard it I'm guessing they got to reenact on a privately owned part of the battlefield, or right next adjacent to it, with one of the main roads Lee's Army used during the retreat being there.
Now this is important, our unit loves to sing around the fire, and unlike some folks we've got a LOT of period songs memorized. Not just ones associated with the war, but regular ones from everyday life back then.
After the battle, one of our senior officers and one of the sergeants were headed somewhere, and saw a musical outfit setting up by a wagon to play, and they had chairs and I'm guessing hay bails for seating set up right next to the road. Our two protagonists in the story sit down to hear the little concert pretty close to dusk, looking to unwind and sing along after a long, and
very hot day in uniform. Also this happened a long ways away from the camp.
Well the little concert got started, but after dark while singing, they notice a
drastic temperature drop, to the point they were shivering and then noticed a column of wagons, and infantry marching down the road, and a company of the infantry fell out in full kit to take a seat and listen and sing along with the music. As it was told to me,
these guys were all Confederate, all very young, and all pretty ragged. They all get to singing, and the officer in this story notices all of these guys have very unknown songs that he has to have his notes to remember and sing, thoroughly memorized. He asked one of them in an interlude between songs about one he had difficulty finding the lyrics to where he learned it, and the reply from the infantryman was "Well we sung it all the time at home." which had this officer friend of mine amused and he thought it a joke if I remember right.
About that time, he noticed a bunch of horse drawn artillery, and cavalry going down the road, which had him confused because he thought they were back in camp. A few more songs were sung before the little concert was over, and all these infantry started leaving saying they needed to catch up with their regiment.
Also the temperature got hotter after they left...
The kicker, was when our two protagonists got back to camp. The officer asked his son, a cavalryman, why they were out with all the cavalry so late,
the reply being along the lines of "We've been here, no one has been out of camp." To further muddy the waters, they asked around about the company of infantry that had been there with them, and they found out,
there was no reenacting unit of that regiment at the reenactment. It took them awhile, but they eventually tracked down the band throwing the concert and found out they had no idea who all those Confederates were.
Remember this isn't my story so there's probably some stuff off, but that's the jist of it. I know I've heard that story maybe twice over the years, and folks in camp love it. My own ghostly encounter on a battlefield is less dramatic, and I don't think anyone has ever believed me except one fellow, God rest his soul, who was there. But that was another battlefield, and so, we'll save that one for October. I know I've shared it on CWT before.